04/03/2014: Teff offers Africa farmers a business opportunity

There's talk of a significant business opportunity waiting in the agricultural farmlands in East Africa.

It is 'Teff', a golden, wheat-like grain, which has a quinoa-like potential. It’s gluten-free and offers all kinds of marketable health traits that have made quinoa such a hit in countries like the United States: it is high in calcium, protein, iron and amino acids.

Eragrostis tef - couresy of Wikipedia

Teff even helps keep blood sugar levels steady, making it ideal for diabetics, says the report on the website Quartz.

“Many people consider teff to be a super-food,” says Khalid Bomba, CEO of Ethiopia’s Agricultural Transformation Agency, told Ugandan newspaper New Vision.

About a fifth of Ethiopia's harvested land is dedicated to harvesting teff, and the government wants to double production of the grain by 2015. Locally, it’s used to make a popular flatbread called injera.